Chapter 85 - Styrenic Thermoplastic Elastomer

Abstract

This chapter opens with a general discussion of joining techniques that are useful for Styrenic thermoplastic elastomer. Heat and ultrasonic welding operations can be carried out on molded and extruded parts although bond strengths are not as high as those achieved with more polar materials. Special cyanoacrylate adhesives have been developed that are capable of giving good bond strengths among Evoprene G compounds and a variety of substrates. Although initial radio frequency (RF) welds in styrenic thermoplastic elastomers appeared to be good, subsequent evaluation showed them to be of poor quality. A possible explanation for this is the presence of aromatic groups on the polymer chains, resulting in steric hindrance.